Chapter 24
Anthony
My new home wasn’t big enough for Christmas dinner with the whole clan.
But my parents had built their house with the knowledge that they’d be hosting dozens of people at once, so their entire downstairs was an open floor plan.
Therefore, Skye and I were hosting Christmas for the clan at my parents’ house, and it was going great.
Everyone was having a great time, except for poor Skye.
She’d crossed over into the extremely pregnant range.
And even though we’d forced her into my mom’s favorite comfy recliner as soon as she’d arrived, and the women of the clan had taken over babying her and making sure she had anything she could desire, she was so huge and miserable.
I wished, not for the first time, that we were like seahorses.
Seahorse males carried their young. I would’ve taken the pain and discomfort off of my mate in a heartbeat.
Sammy was floating around somewhere, mingling with the clan, and my mom was in the kitchen, constantly cooking something. We’d done potluck and buffet style, and everyone ate all night rather than trying to have tables to seat everyone at once.
Out of the blue, Skye went from laughing at something Jace said to gasping, and Sammy appeared out of the blue. “It’s time,” she said excitedly.
The atmosphere in the house turned electric, and everyone turned to look. We all felt it.
“Okay.” I held my hands up. “We’re ready. Let’s get her to our place and get this show on the road.”
Sammy squinted at Skye. “Nope,” she said. “No time. These babies are coming now.”
“Do we have time to go upstairs?” I asked as Skye cried out.
“Holy shit,” she yelled. “This hurts!” She took in a few breaths. “Someone call my dad!”
“Quickly,” Sammy said.
“I’ll call him,” Dad said as I lifted Skye into my arms and hurried up the stairs to my old bedroom.
Mom followed and squawked. “Hold on!” She scurried to a hall closet and pulled out a shower curtain in the package. “We’ll put this under her.”
I chuckled and held Skye in my arms as she whimpered and mom spread out first the curtain and then ran from the room and came back with a bunch of towels and handed me my travel medical bag, which I hadn’t gone anywhere without since Skye had entered her third trimester.
About five minutes after Skye let out her first gasp, we had her on the bed in her sports bra and nothing else. I settled beside her and used my medical training to check how dilated Skye was. “Shit,” I whispered. “You’re at ten.”
Her eyes widened. “How?”
“I might’ve helped,” Sammy said. “Sped things along so you don’t have a long, drawn-out labor. Now, let me in there and I can help with the pain, too.”
She settled beside Skye on the bed and put her hand on her belly, and Skye’s face went from twisted in pain to relaxed. “I still feel pain but it’s more annoying than overwhelming.” She breathed several times. “Thank you.”
Sammy beamed at me. “You ain’t seen nothing yet. Dr. Daddy, do your thing, then I’ll help again.”
“You know the drill,” I told Skye. “Push when you feel the need.” I stayed between her legs and when she had a contraction, Sammy and my mom helped her lean forward. In minutes, the first baby was out.
“Holy shit,” I breathed. We had opted not to find out the sex.
My mom left Sammy to help Skye and rushed around to wrap baby number one in one of her big, fluffy towels.
I cut the umbilical cord and almost immediately, Skye began to push again.
This was unlike any birth I’d ever been at.
I glanced at Sammy, who had a triumphant look on her face.
“Is this you?” I asked.
She nodded. “I’m handy at birth.”
“That’s why all the clan moms have you come,” Mom said as she looked at the first baby in wonder. “It’s a girl.” She sucked in a shaky breath as tears coursed down her cheeks.
I touched my face to find tears there as well. My daughter sucked in a deep breath and began to cry with me as I guided the second baby out. We’d finally have a female alpha.
Skye was a trooper, and a few minutes later, Mom gasped. “It’s a boy.” She sobbed and laid her head on Skye’s shoulder. “Great job, Mama.”
A little boy. Tears rolled down my cheeks in earnest now. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” I asked Sammy.
She scoffed as I handed Skye our little boy, wrapped in a towel. I focused on the babies, checking them over, and making sure they were safe and sound. Both were as healthy as I’d seen any newborns, and like all dragon babies, came out human.
My tears fell when they each opened their eyes, and they were gold.
“They’re dragons,” my mother whispered. She was looking at our little girl over Skye’s shoulder as Sammy worked between Skye’s legs.
Mom ran from the room to tell the clan, and Skye gasped. “What did you do?” she asked.
“Sped things up,” Sammy said. She wiped her hands on a towel and started cleaning up the dirty towels that had accumulated during the very quick delivery.
“Her healing is more like a week out. The uterus is mostly shrunk back down, and she didn’t rip or tear, thanks to me, but she should continue to heal with only mild discomfort.
” She put her hand over each of the twins, proclaimed them healthy, and left, leaving us all in a state of shock and wonder.
It was done. We had our twins, one of each, and the future of the clan alpha lineage was secured.
Less than an hour after it all started, we were in the spare bedroom in my parents’ home with our babies in our arms.
“Wow,” I whispered. “Did that really just happen?”
Skye burst out laughing and tears coursed down her cheeks. We stared at our children in adoration for several minutes until Mom popped back in.
“What are their names?” she asked. “And can the grandfathers come in? Your father just got here, along with your girlfriends. I sent most of the clan to finish the party at your beach house,” she said. “Sammy’s heading there now to provide a bit of cover.”
I grinned. They’d finished Skye’s beach house the month before and we’d decided to keep it as a sort of second home. She’d generously offered it up to the clan as well. If we had anyone visit or if any members of the clan needed a temporary home, they were welcome to it.
It had endeared her to them even further. I couldn’t have loved her more already.
We argued for several minutes over names as our visitors filed in and out. “How about strong names like Artemis and Athena?” I suggested, deadly serious.
Skye burst out laughing, as did my mother. “No,” Skye said. “Absolutely not. How about Sean Mitchell, after our dads?”
Her father was in the corner of the room, holding our little girl, and looked up in awe. My father stood uncomfortably, being out of his element in a birthing room around babies.
I gazed lovingly at my son. “Are you Sean Mitchell?” I asked him. He nuzzled me. “I think he likes it.”
“I know I do,” Sean said. Smiling, I looked at Skye’s father. We’d had a moment the first time I saw him after moving back to town. He was a man of few words, and had basically told me as long as I treated Skye right, we had no problem.
I stood and put my son in my father’s arms. “What do you think, Gramps?”
He beamed, and something in his face changed. I knew he’d never be the same.
“Okay, you can name our daughter then,” Skye said. “But please, for the love of all that’s holy, no Greek goddesses.”
Sean stood and handed me my daughter. “Let me hold my namesake,” he said proudly. He and my father squished together so they could each gaze upon the little boy named for both of them.
I stared down at the wrinkled beauty in my arms. “How about we keep the same initials. Star, since you’re my Skye, my princess can be my star.
And Mia after my mom’s middle name.” I would’ve liked to have named her after Skye’s mom as well, but she’d taken off on Skye when she was a little girl. She didn’t even remember her.
Skylar burst into tears. I couldn’t help laughing at her raging hormones, even as I slipped onto the bed and pulled her into my arms. She took Star and cried into her blanket, which my mother had produced from nowhere.
I wondered how many other baby items she had tucked away. We’d planned on waiting and buying the bulk of it after we knew the sexes. I imagined there wasn’t much we’d need to shop for, knowing my mother.
I didn’t know how life could’ve gotten any sweeter, but two months later, it did. I came home from work to an empty house. “Hello?” I called as quietly as I could.
The babies were usually up around the time I came home and Skye either would have her hands full or one of the grandparents would be here helping out. Once my father had gotten a load of his grandkids, it had been difficult to keep him away. But no one was there.
I bounded up the stairs. Maybe everyone was asleep.
But no. Skye was waiting for me in our bedroom. “Hello there,” I said. It was hard not to realize the reason the house was empty but for me and Skye. Candles lined every surface, and the bed was covered in rose petals. “Hey,” I said. “No more babies. Not anytime soon.”
Skye gave me a knowing smile. “I’m tired of waiting, Anthony.” We hadn’t had any time alone since the babies were born. She’d had more than enough time to heal up.
She stepped closer, pressing her hands to my chest. Her vibrant green eyes peered up at me through her long lashes. “I want you.”
A hungry growl ripped through my chest as I pressed her flush against me, claiming her soft, pliant lips.
I’d done the responsible thing by not pressuring her for sex while she healed, but I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t been impatiently waiting for that day.
She wrapped her arms around my neck, and I scooped her legs up around me.
“Are you sure you’re ready?” I asked. “I don’t want to—”
“Yes, Anthony. I’m more than ready.” Her reply was a breathy whisper. “Make love to me.”